4 KEY PR TRENDS OF 2018
In today's media world, things change so quickly; across print media, social media and digital media. It's difficult to keep up with the trends and changes, especially when you bring talk of algorithms into the mix.
So, I've pulled out 4 key trends that you can all explore for a business of any size. It's just about being savvy in how you approach things.
1. THE CONTINUED RISE OF INFLUENCER MARKETING
It is inescapable, especially since #Ad and the 'paid promotion' tags making it even easier to spot the commercial side of social media, but influencer marking continues to offer a power and exponential opportunity to brands who can use it savvily enough. Alongside this, micro influencers provide potent and targeted opportunities to speak to a carefully crafted target audience. Hugo Taylor, co-founder of Taylor Morris, spoke at the Cosmo Self Made Summit last year and mentioned the importance of micro influencers in growing their brand. An account may only have 5ooo followers, but if a high percentage of those 5000 followers are highly engaged with the account's content, and your brand is in line with the content of the account, you are likely to see a strong benefit and return upon collaborating.
Make sure that you can measure the results from any influencer collaborations - use a specific hashtag, document increase/spikes in followers, use a promo code to track resulting sales.
Building ongoing, meaningful relationships with your brand influencers offers more authenticity to the consumer if they can see that it is a like-minded and ongoing partnership. This is something that the Jo Malone brand does really well. A way to foster this is to use your influencer collaborations as 'content creation' opportunities rather than a simple 'photo opp' - consumers are savvy to this and are looking for businesses to be more creative in using influencers to add value to their social content and kudos. Keep in mind that content marketing in it's own right is continuing to be more and more important.
2. ENTREPRENEURS AS EXPERTS
With a decline in traditional print media and the rise and rise of digital as it is ever evolving to meet the thirst for quick turnaround of content with value, there is ever more opportunity for experts to provide content direct to online platforms. One of the first things I will advise a client on is to position themselves as an expert across all of their platforms. Making yourself visible as an expert in your field positions you well for promotion on all levels. More entreprenerus and experts are becoming published contributors (and subsequently often published authors) - A trend fostered by platforms like The Huffington Post.
3. EXPERTS WRITING BOOKS
As mentioned above, the route to writing and releasing a book is made more accessible year on year. It is one of the most powerful ways to position yourself as an expert and a thought leader. We are seeing a rise of this amongst influencers using their platform to promote their writing (Tanya Burr, Millie Mackintosh, Clemmie Hooper etc) as well as business men and women showcasing their expertise in their field by self publishing and promoting.
This also ties into the growing importance of personal branding; how you are seen within your industry. What better way of cementing your personal brand than becoming an authority in your area of expertise.
4. INCREASED IMPORTANCE OF VIDEO MEDIA
I'm no 'algorithm' expert but from what I understand, social media and digital platforms are moving towards the importance of video media. Talk is that more visibility is awarded to content of accounts on instagram that are making good use of the 'Stories' and live video formats. PRs and brands will need to continue to be creative with how they promote when it comes to creative content to keep up with these trends. Consumers are also responding to creative video content across all platforms as it is so quick to consume and can have a long lasting impact on how a consumer connects with and views a brand.
What do you think? Have you heard anything about social, influencers or media that has stood out to you recently, anything that you've been wondering about exploring or doing more of?